Sweet Williams

Good flowers to put on graves. Colourful, last well, reasonably priced and I’m told rabbits don’t nibble them as much as other varieties.

They’re very easy to grow from seed tho won’t flower till second year. After that they tend to seed themselves around garden.

Bought 2 bunches yesterday from M&S.......didn't 'faff' about ...just plonked them in 2 vases with water. My friends who visited today said how pretty they looked. Only paid £4 for 2 bunches ...

I love them, pretty flowers that remind me of my grandfather’s garden.They usually last well when cut.

My parents had a border of them in the garden but they seemed to have gone out of fashion. I bought a bunch in Aldi today which don't have the scent that they used to have.

Thanks ... so I could have left the leaves on?

Well, I left the leaves on. I'll probably change the water tomorrow

I like them. They remind me of the day long ago that mum went round her garden digging up the self sown plants for me to have.
I have sown some seeds myself this week. If the supermarkets are selling bunches maybe they are coming back into fashion annodomini ?

They remind me of my Aunty Mary's garden! Strange isn't it how plants are so evocative of place and time? She had a white rose, a lilac and laburnum. Without fail every time I see them I think of her. I was brought up by her for a while when my mother was sick. Dahlias and nasturtiums and lupins are my grandpa's garden.

The leaves don’t last nearly as long as the flowers. I always strip them off and use other foliage.

Many flowers don’t seem to have the scent they used to. We had sweet Williams in our garden when I was growing up, and stocks and wallflowers, all of which were highly scented, but they don’t seem to smell of anything now. I love old fashioned cottage garden plants and am growing stocks this year.

DH loves them. He always used to buy them for me when we were courting. (I think because they were reasonably priced and he didn’t have much money). I was never keen on them but appreciate them more now. His other offering at the time was Clarnico peppermint creams and if really flush the chocolate ones. I wasn't keen on those either (Dairy Milk would have been my choice) but 54 years later we are still together!